Hearing Demons
by neo91
Summary: She's the last of the assassination party and when things start to go right for her, she hears a strange voice. How can she hear this? How can she hear the demon inside Gaara? Sorry, I'm terrible at summaries. XXXGaaraSakuraXXX Rated M for later chapters.
1. In The Darkness

**Summary**: She's the last of the assassination party and when things start to go right for him she hears a strange voice. How can she hear this? How can she hear the demon inside Gaara?  
(Sorry, I'm terrible at summaries.) XXXGaara/SakuraXXX Rated M for later chapters. I might make the characters OOC. (more than likely)

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**Disclaimer**: I may not own Naruto but I do own Neji's soul...I bought it on EBay!

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**Chapter 1**:

He opened his eyes and stared into the pitch black above him. He hadn't been asleep of course; he would never sleep.

"You can come out now," he said into the dark. He pulled open the curtain on the window next to his bed, allowing moonlight to flood into the room. 9 men and 1 girl stepped out of the remaining shadows. They all wore ANBU masks and had the Konoha ANBU tattoo on their shoulders. The girl, apparently the leader of the group, stepped forward.

"Gaara, Kazekage of the Sand Nin, you've been deemed too dangerous to live," she said in a familiar voice.

He sat up from his bed. "Oh really," he said. It wasn't a question.

Everybody except the girl took out kunai and shurikan.

"You've got to be kidding me," he mumbled, "I can't believe all Konoha could send is 9 measly men and 1 'girl'?" He made the last part a question.

"Do you even know who this 'girl', as you call her, is?" one of the men asked.

"Not right now," he responded, never taking his eyes off the girl, "But I will as soon as I'm done taking care of all you imbeciles"

Hearing the 'ching' of metal, he caught the kunai that had been thrown at his heart.

"Now I'm mad," he said. In one fluid movement he reached back and pulled the curtain shut again.

Now that the room was pitch black again he made his move. There were many sounds of metal on metal, men grunting as a punch landed right in his gut, and, to Shukaku's delight, the screams of men dieing.

When all were either knocked-out or dead, he went over to the light switch and flipped on the lights. He was slightly surprised to still see the girl standing in the middle of the room but not enough to show.

"How come I didn't sense your chakra?" he asked in a bored tone.

"I know some things," she said, amused.

He walked over and stood in front of her. "Your men are either knocked out or dead; why aren't you scared?" he asked.

"Little scares me any more," she replied.

"And why is that?"

"I know you Gaara-kun, I know all you've done, I now about Shukaku." The last part was a whisper.

He glared at the slim girl. Something was wrong about her. In the blink of an eye he had the tiger ANBU mask off her face. A child's face looked up at him.

"Take down the illusion," he said, still glaring.

Her whole body began to ripple as her height and features changed. When it was all done a woman, about a head shorter then him and about his age, with pink hair was standing in front of him.

"Nice to see you again Gaara-kun," she said with a smile.

"I never thought I would see you again...Haruno Sakura."

She smiled again. "Well, since I became part of ANBU I've met many people I never thought I would see you again."

"That tends to happen when you know the type of people you know," he said. His eyes still held no emotion despite the glare.

"Ahhh," she said, amusement still in her voice, "You mean Sasuke and the Fifth, Naruto"

"So the little bastard did make Hokage," he mumbled to himself.

"That 'little bastard' is my friend," she said, all amusement replaced by anger.

"You are brave for someone who is about to be my prisoner."

"If you plan on making me your prisoner than you are going to have to do more than talk."

"You mock me."

"I mock everybody," she smiled.

Suddenly pain raced up his arm. He hissed, looking down to see another her standing next to him, holding the kunai that was sticking out of his arm.

The Sakura in front of him disappeared, leaving a small pile of cherry blossoms behind.

"I told you," she whispered in his ear," I know some things; so don't underestimate me."

"You're making me mad," he warned.

"Good," she laughed, "I want to see first hand how strong Shukaku is."

Gaara could feel Shukaku trying to take over.

_LET ME OUT YOU LITTLE BRAT_.

'Shut up Shukaku. I thought I had finally gotten you to shut up 2 years ago.'

_YOU'LL NEVER GET ME TO BE QUIET_.

Suddenly the kunai was yanked from his arm and Sakura pushed him forward.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, "Who else is here?"

"No one's here. I don't know what you're talking about!" he snarled, mad that Shukaku was back.

She glared at him. "I know I heard something. A menacing voice. I'm not insane."

'What the hell is this girl talking about?' he thought.

_SINCE WHEN DID YOU CARE ABOUT WHAT I THOUGHT_?

'I don't.'

He turned around and faced Sakura.

She had an unreadable look on her face. "The voices are coming from you," she whispered, "It's your voice and something...evil." She shuddered. "I'm hearing Shukaku."

Surprise filled both him and Shukaku.

_THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!_ Shukaku yelled.

"Apparently it is!" she yelled right back.

"Both of you shut up!" Gaara yelled. He looked up at her, schooling his feature not to show any of the emotions he was feeling right then. "I honestly am sorry about this,"  
he said.

In speeds that would make Gai proud, he hit a pressure point on the back of her neck, causing all senses to momentarily fail, and for her to pass out.

He caught her limp body before it could hit the floor. He turned her over so he could see her face. Gently brushing pink locks away, he lightly caressed her cheek.

_WHAT ARE YOU DOING_!

'She knows about you and can hear you. She would understand what I'm going through. I can't let her go.'

_YOU'RE GOING SOFT_.

He thought about it for a second. 'Yeah, I guess I am,' he thought with amusement.  
Shukaku snorted.

'What's wrong? Mad that your little technique doesn't work anymore?'

_SAY ONE MORE WORD TO ME AND I'LL GIVE YOU THE WORST HEADACHE YOU'VE EVER HAD._

He simply laughed.

* * *

Sakura looked around her. She was surrounded by an impenetrable black. 'I don't think it's the absence of light though,' she thought, 'I don't think it's the absence of...anything.'

_YOU'VE GOTTEN SMARTER SINCE THE LAST TIME WE MET._

She recognized that voice. "Shukaku."

_THERE IS NO NEED TO SPEAK OUT LOUD. I CAN HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS._

She immediately felt herself throwing up barriers to block the demon from her thoughts.

_THAT WON'T WORK. GAARA TRIED IT FOR YEARS._

'Show yourself!' she thought.

_WHY SHOULD I SHOW MYSELF TO A LOWLIFE HUMAN LIKE YOU?_

'Why would you bring me to this place if that wasn't what you had planned?'  
_TOO SMART PERHAPS_.

'I learned from the best.'

_YES, YES. KAKASHI, NARUTO, SASUKE, THE OLD HOKAGE, GAI, ANKO, AND MANY OTHERS. EVEN IF MY HOST DIDN'T, I KEPT AN EYE ON YOU._

'Why?'

_I KNEW SOMETHING WAS...SPECIAL ABOUT YOU WHEN I FIRST SAW YOU._

_  
_'Are you going to come out or am I going to talk to an unknown voice this whole time?'

Something began to appear through the black. At first small, but growing larger by the second. After about 10 seconds a tall man stood in front of her.

'You're Shukaku? But you look just like any ordinary man.'

_TAKE A CLOSER LOOK_.

She looked again at what she thought was an ordinary man. After looking closer she realized he wasn't anything near ordinary. The ears were pointed, the eyes were red with vertical slits for pupils (kind of like cats eyes), the long hair hanging down to his waist was blacker than the black that surrounded them, and the hands and feet looked more like claws.

Other than that he actually looked kind of hot.

_NOW YOU SEE WHAT I REALLY AM._

'How is it possible that something that was so feared looks so much like any normally person...but not?' she interrupted.

He laughed. _I AM WHAT I WANT TO BE_, he explained.

'But why?'

_YOU ASK TOO MANY QUESTIONS. NOW SHUT UP SO I CAN TELL YOU WHY I BROUGHT YOU HERE._

She crossed her arms and glared. One of Shukaku's black eyebrows raised but he didn't say anything about her childish ways.

_I BROUGHT YOU HERE ON GAARRA'S BEHALF._

'Since when did you care about anything that had to do with Gaara?'

_I HAVE TO CARE ABOUT HIS WELL-BEING. REMEMBER I DO RESIDE IN HIM._

'Not willingly.'

He began to glare but still didn't say anything about her behavior.

_BACK TO GAARA. I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON THROUGH HIS MIND. HIS FEELINGS ARE IN TOTAL CHAOS... ALL ABOUT YOU._

'What? About me?'

_YES, ABOUT YOU. I BROUGHT YOU HEAR TO ASK YOU TO NOT LEAVE HIM. NOT LEAVE HIM UNTILL EITHER HE LEAVES YOU OR YOU CAN'T STAND ANYMORE_.

'But why would he feel anything about me? I didn't see any hint of emotion in his eyes or face the whole time we were talking.'

_WHEN HAVE YOU EVER SEEN GAARA SHOW EMOTION?_

'Never,' she admitted grudgingly.

_RIGHT. NOW WILL YOU DO THIS FOR ME...FOR GAARA?_

She stayed silent for several minutes, her eyes going in and out of focus in thought.

'I have 1 condition.'

_WHAT'S THAT? _he asked suspiciously.

'You will not show yourself other than talking to me or him.'

_WHY YOU CONIVEING LITTLE WENCH. OK. I WILL DO MY BEST TO KEEP MY TEMPER_.

'Thank you. And I will do my best to stay by his side until either I can't take anymore or he leaves me on his own.'

They shook hands, her taking as much care as possible not to get scratched by the claws.

_NOW, MY LITTLE KUNOICHI, YOU WILL WAKE._

Everything began to blur and she could feel all her senses returning.

"Where- Where am I?" she asked. Her mouth felt like it was full of cotton.

"You are in my house in the Land of Sand," came her reply.

She sat up quickly, and in the process, hit her head on Gaara's forehead.  
She yelped and jumped back but whatever she was on it made her bounce up and down when she did so. She looked down to see what it was and saw that she was lying on a bed.

"This doesn't look like the home we were in last time," she mumbled, rubbing her head.

"That's because it isn't the home you saw last time," Gaara growled, rubbing his forehead where they had collided, "That was Tamari's house, which by the way, she's mad about all the blood stains on her carpet."

"Well, if you hadn't killed those men that wouldn't be a problem!" she growled right back. She felt the hollow feeling that she felt every time one of her team died growing.

_FEISTY LITTLE WENCH_.

"Shut up Shukaku!" both Sakura and Gaara yelled at the same time.

She looked up at him. He was giving her a funny look but there still was no emotion in those hard green eyes.

Finally she decided to look around and take in her surroundings. She was in a very large room. It didn't have much in it and the little that was there looked like it had never been used or used very little.

"You said this was your house right?" she asked.

He looked around, "Yeah."

"Then why does it look like it's never been used before?"

He smirked. "I never stay here is why."

She looked back at him, "Why not?"

"You ask too many questions," he said standing up from the bed.

_THAT'S WHAT I SAID_.

'Ok. Pretending I cared about what you say, when did you ever talk to her except through me?' she heard Gaara think.

_IGNORANT FOOL_, was all the reply he got.

She laughed. "What the hell is going on?" Gaara demanded.

"Nothing of consequence," she laughed.

"I'll be out in the kitchen if you need anything," he said, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

He then turned and walked out the door. The only thing that ruined his calm demeanor was him slamming the door as he went out.

"Good. Now to try and find something to wear other than this blasted ANBU uniform," she said standing up.

As she was standing up she noticed the fact that she wasn't still in her ANBU uniform. In fact all she was wearing was a loose fitting T-shirt and her underwear.

"YOU FUCKING PRICK! YOU CHANGED MY CLOTHES WHEN I WAS ASLEEP?" she screamed.

* * *

A/N: Hehe. Sorry it was kind of short. We were at a state volleyball thing and I just started typing on our laptop. Well, tell me what you think and please, if you have any suggestions,  
tell me.

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	2. Food and Sparing

**Chapter 2**:

Gaara laughed as he heard her scream. 'Took her long enough,' he thought.

_WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT?_

'I didn't you prick! I had Tamari do it! Don't you ever pay attention?'

_I WAS BUSY SO I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU WERE DOING EXEPT WHAT YOU WERE FEELING AT THE TIME._

'What the hell could you two have done without me knowing it?'

_I BROUGHT HER TO MY TEMPORARY HOME._

'You brought her inside me?'

_YES._

He turned the corner to find 3 men in all black standing in the hall.

"What do you want?" he asked gruffly.

"Um, Kazekage-sama, our mission was successful," the one in the front said.

He looked around, counting how many men were in there. "There are only 6 of you. I sent 12."

The men began to shift around. Something was wrong.

"Um... we had a few problems. 2 died and 4 have been taken captive," the same man said.

Gaara could feel his anger building but surprisingly not Shukaku's anger. "You left men behind? That's a liability you idiot! They can give away information! How can you call that a success?" he yelled.

A small creak of the floorboards brought his attention behind him. She was standing there.

_SHE'S BEAUTIFUL. I MAY TAKE HER AS MY OWN WHEN I GET OUT OF THIS PRISON._

'You keep away from her.'

"I can still hear that you two," she said glaring.

She was still wearing the loose T-shirt of his but she had slipped on a pair of his shorts too. They looked baggy on her.

"You think or say anything about the clothes and I swear I will hurt you," she said, poking him in the chest with her finger, "And that includes you, Shukaku."

Shukaku laughed. 'All I was going to say was that you looked nice,' he thought, knowing she could hear him.

Her glare became more heated.

Gaara heard the sound of metal being unsheathed from behind him.

"Stand down!" he barked.

"Sir, she's got the Konoha ANBU tattoo though!" one of the men protested.

"Stand down or loose your lives."

After he was sure the last kunai was back in the belt pouch it belonged in, he dismissed the men with a wave of his hand.

"You have a firm hold on your men," she commented.

"Those men have sworn fealty to me. They wouldn't dare go against me."

She gave him a funny look. "Why would they do that?" she asked.

"It was either that or die. None of them are Sand-nin either. They were all rogue nins who I was sent to kill by the last Kazekage."

"So you defied orders?"

"Shukaku was right. You do ask too many questions," he said, turning around.

He walked alone for a few minutes but he soon heard her following footsteps, running to catch up to him.

"Why are you following me?" he asked when she finally caught up to him.

"What else do I have to do?" she replied.

"You can't answer a question with a question," he said.

"I just did, now didn't I?"

He turned a corner and walked into the kitchen.

'Do you want something to eat?' he thought.

"You can talk like a normal person," she retorted.

"Think something," he ordered.

"Excuse m-" she started.

"Think something," he repeated.

She went silent.

'Don't know what the hell he wants me to think,' he heard.

"Anything!" he was starting to loose his temper with how she persisted in being a pain in the ass.

"You heard that?" she jumped.

"Of course I did. Now think something."

"That was a thought, jackass."

He looked over at her from the corner of his eye.

'What's he looking at?'

"I can hear you too," he said, with a smirk that didn't touch his eyes.

She snorted. "Great."

He walked over to the refrigerator and opened the door. "You never answered me," he said around the door.

"About what?" she said gruffly.

_FOOD YOU FOOL._

She glared but he knew it wasn't towards him but towards Shukaku.

"I don't want anything," she growled.

He shrugged. "You'll have to eat sometime. Just let me know when your hungry."

'Yea, right.' she thought sarcastically.

'Fine then, die of hunger. I've given the cooks special orders to not give you any food unless I make it for you of if you have special orders from me.'

"You prick," she said, glaring.

"I do my best. Now, do you want to change your mind?"

She was silent for a few minutes. It looked as if she was chewing her lip too. It was kind of cute.

_YOU ARE GOING SOFT._

'Shut up.'

"I can hear you," she said in a teasing tone.

He looked up. When did he look down? She was looking at him with a... what was that look? Was it ...kindness? Why would she feel kindness for him?

"Your thoughts are confused but I can't tell what they are. You aren't voicing them," she mumbled.

"Hmm. A loophole in whatever this is."

She lifted herself up onto the counter. She started swinging her legs like little kids do when their feet can't touch the ground.

_SHE'S CUTE._

"Thank you. The only nice thing I've heard come from you," she smiled, picking up 3 apples and juggling them.

He grabbed some eggs from the fridge and shut the door. He walked over to the stove, grabbed a frying pan, and turned the heat on. He set the pan on the stove and cracked an egg into the pan.

"How do you like your eggs?" he asked.

"I said I didn't want anything."

"Yes, but you forget, I can hear your thoughts. Why do you think I picked eggs?"

"Sly devil," she mumbled, setting the apples down.

"No, that's Shukaku."

She looked up at him. "Was that a joke?" she asked.

"No."

_YES_. She giggled.

_THIS GIRL CAN'T DECIDE IF SHE WANTS TO BE THE KILLER ANBU OR THE GIGGLY GIRL._

"You go from compliments to insults," she scowled.

* * *

She knew that if Shukaku didn't stop goading her then she was going to explode. Why was he doing this? Even after their deal? He must be playing something.

"And you think my thoughts were confused..." Gaara mumbled. He flipped the egg that he had been cooking.

"I didn't know you could cook," she smiled. It was another virtue she was starting to like already. She burnt almost everything she cooked.

"I just learned how. It's actually easy."

_WHATEVER. IT TOOK YOU FOREVER TO NOT BURN WHAT YOU COOKED._

'Damn you.'

She giggled again. It was funny to listen what went on between these two. Like a married couple.

"That's what you two remind me of," she said.

"What?" she heard it come from both of them.

"A married couple," she laughed, "You two fight like you're married."

_WE'VE BEEN STUCK TOGEATHER SINCE HE WAS A CHILD. I KNOW EVERYTHING HE'S GONE THROUGH SINCE THEN._

"And I know about what he's shared with me and what he's felt since he was put in me. The only thing I don't know for sure, other than his past, is how he looks," Gaara added.

She slid off the counter and walked over to him. Reaching up, she traced the black circles around his eyes.

"I will never have the strength you have. To be able to deprive yourself of something any human needs and live with it," she mumbled.

'What a change of subject,' she thought, taking her hand down.

He grabbed her wrist before it could fall completely.

"You're stronger than you think," he said, not even looking at her but over her head.

"Wha-," she started.

"The eggs are about to burn," he let her hand go and turned back to the stove. In one quick flick of the wrist he had the egg flipped onto the plate beside the stove.

"Here," he handed her the plate then started walking out of the kitchen.

"Wait!" she called.

He turned as he reached the door. "If you need anything I will place an ANBU for you. He will be there at all times of the day."

Then he was gone.

She fell into a close by chair, tossing the plate onto the table. She watched as it circled on its side until it finally came to a stop upright.

'Dammit! Why did I do that?' she thought angrily, 'What the hell was I thinking?'

'You were thinking about nothing and everything,' Inner Sakura sighed.

'What's that supposed to mean?' she demanded.

'If you don't know what you've felt for this boy since you first met him then I can't explain it to you.'

'You're just as bad as Shukaku,' she pouted.

She stood up and picked up the plate. She searched around until she found a fork then brought it out in the hall. A man in Sand's ANBU uniform was standing there.

"I'll show you to your room," he said gruffly.

"Actually can you show me to the training grounds?" she asked.

He gave her a funny look over his shoulder.

"It's pitch black out. No girl like you would be able to train in that."

She smiled. "You'd be surprised at what I can do," she said.

"Fine,' he sighed, 'but if I get in trouble cause you hurt yourself."

"I won't hurt myself now will you just take me there!" she said loosing her temper with this arrogant bastard.

It was a long walk to where they were going and if it weren't for them man leading her she would have been lost long ago. She saw many rooms with doors open, but even more with doors closed and sometimes barred.

"Where do all these doors lead to?" she asked.

He shrugged, never slowing a step. "Some lead to bedrooms, some to cells."

They walked for a few more minutes then reached the training grounds.

"I'll be inside this door. When you're done come and get me and I'll show you to your room," he said walking into one of the closed doors. Once the door was shut she walked out onto the field.

'When did we go outside?' she thought.

_IT'S HOW THE PLACE IS BUILT. YOU WILL GET LOST PLENTY OF TIMES._

'What! You guys are out here?'

_PREPARE YOURSELF_.

That was the only warning she got before she sensed his chakra. He was sneaking up through the murky blackness of the night.

She felt excitement well up inside her. Another good fight. It's just what she needed since she wasn't able to test him at Tamari's house.

Despite being searched and stripped of all found kunai she reached down to her hip and there, in the simplest of places, her belt, she found 3 kunai.

'No one ever thinks of the simple places,' she mused.

She followed his chakra carefully, not letting him get the best of her. When he was finally only 10 feet from her she turned and threw a rock in the direction she felt him.

'No use in wasting my only kunai until he gets to me,' she thought.

Since she didn't hear the 'thunk' of rock hitting flesh she knew he had dodged the rock. 'Here it comes,' she thought.

His body emerged form the darkness, into her sight.

"I thought Temari had taken all your kunai," he said looking down at the 3 kunai in between her fingers.

She smirked, "No one ever looks in the simplest of places."

He scowled, but instead of replying he let his sand go slowly towards her so she wouldn't hear it.

"You really are a one-trick pony aren't you?" he heard her say.

Surprised he looked at her face. She had a knowing grin on her face. He tried concentrating on her thoughts to find out what she was going to do but he didn't even hear the slightest hint of them.

"You found a way to hide your thoughts." It wasn't a question.

"Yes, and you haven't. This fight may actually be fair now," she smiled.

He sneered at her cheerfulness.

_HOW CAN YOU ALWAYS BE SO DAMN HAPPY? EVEN WHEN YOU'RE IN TROUBLE YOU FIND A WAY TO SMILE._

"It's simple, really," she started, "I've accepted all the shit that happens in life. None of it fazes me now."

Gaara had had enough. He let his sand go in a fury. Using speeds Lee had helped her achieve, Sakura dodged it.

"You've been training with the eyebrows kid," Gaara said following her every move with his eyes.

She spun on her heel and glared her worst glare yet.

"DON'T YOU EVER TALK BADLY ABOUT LEE! BECAUSE OF YOU HE CAN'T USE HIS ARM AND LEG LIKE HE USED TO!" she screamed in fury.

In her anger she threw one of the 3 kunai she had, putting excess amounts of chakra in her arms so she could throw it even herder and faster than normal. Gaara's sand automatically came up and blocked the attack. Sakura growled in her throat.

Forming the sand with his chakra he made an exact replica of a kunai, and threw it back at her in return. She caught it but was surprised when it became a trap of sand.

The sand quickly wrapped around her wrists, making it so she was unable to move her hands at all.

"Works for me," she growled.

She dropped one of the kunai she had in her hands and, using more chakra, had it stick to the bottom of her bare foot. Using a roundhouse kick she flung it at him. Just like normal the sand came up, protected him, and then started to slither away. Unfortunately, Gaara hadn't noticed her drop the other kunai too and in the shadow of the other one it came at him. Catching him and the sand off guard it came right for him. Just in time he dodged it but not quickly enough to escape it completely. It made a small cut across his cheek, not even deep enough to hurt him. Unexpectedly, Sakura dropped to her knees, wrists still bound by sand. Her breathing was labored and her shoulders were shaking.

"You've used too much stamina and your emotions are raging. Lear to control them," he said like it was nothing.

She winced like he had dealt her a blow. "No matter how much I try, I've never been able to stop that. Even when I was ANBU."

They stayed silent and unmoving for a few minutes.

She knew that if she tried to get up she would probably pass out.

"When you leave can you have that cocky son of a bitch come get me," she said just loud enough for him to hear.

He raised an eyebrow. "Has Tsukasa been treating you poorly?"

She was trying her best to answer but it seemed as if she had lost all energy.

'Why the fuck did I have to use all my stamina?' she demanded of herself. Seeing her starting to sway, Gaara jumped over to her and picked her up bridal style. It seemed as if he had just made it in time for she was fast asleep in his arms.

"Stupid girl," he mumbled.

* * *

A/N- Ok I know it's kind of short and I have grammar and spelling mistakes but you know what! My computers being a bitch and I can't use Word. I only have notepad so I don't have spelling and grammar check and I'm bad enough at that shit. I'll update soon. Save flames for campfire please... (Unless their light flames)

_-Neo_


	3. The Room

Disclaimer- nope. unfourtunatly...

A/N- Finally I know. Please don't say anything about my spelling my computer's still a bitch. There'll be a bit of fluff in this one, maybe more, I'm kinda playing it as I go...

Hearing Demons Chapter 3- The room

Gaara carried the kunoichi to the room he knew Tsukasa was and kicked the door open none to gently. "Kazekage-sama!" the large man said, jumping up from the table he was sitting at.  
Gaara laid Sakura down in a chair, careful not to wake her. "Tsukasa, I was told that you were rude to this girl"  
"No sir. I was simply"  
Gaara didn't give him a chance to explain, his sands jumping to suround the man. "If I ever here of you mistreating any woman ever again..." the sands became tighter as Gaara held out a hand, fingers outstreatched. One finger closed and there was a loud crunch an arm was shattered.  
Terror and pain filled Tsukasa's face as he screamed. "Never again Sir!" he managed to sob out.  
The sands dropped and Garra once again picked up the still passed out Sakura, leaving the now former ANBU to sob on the floor.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

When they were some ways down the hall Sakura opened her eyes. "I heard screaming," she said in a still sleepy voice.  
"It was nothing of importaince"  
HE GOT WHAT HE DESERVED.  
She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Did you do anything to that ANBU that was showing me around"  
Gaara and Shukaku stayed silent.  
She sighed but wrapped her arms around his neck to make things on him a little easier. It didn't. Her body was light enough that he could lift her with one arm and all her arms were doing were making a slight blush appear on his ears. They were both silent for a while but Gaara didn't even realize untill her arms went limp around his neck that she had fallen asleep again.  
YOU SHOULD PUT HER IN THAT ROOM ACROSS FROM YOURS.  
'Where else would I put her'  
KNOWING YOU IN SOME SMALL UNFURNISHED ROOM 2 FLOORS AWAY.  
Gaara scowled, causing a young maid to squeek from across the hall.  
When they reached the room where she was going to be sleeping, which was so convieniently right across the hall from Gaara's, he gently pushed the door open, not wanting to have to replace 2 doors in one day.  
He walked over to the bed and used one arm to hold sakura up and the other to throw the sheets back. He then layed her down.  
Since none of this woke her he left, going to his own room.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Sakura shivered in her sleep. Her eyes fluttered open to reveal sleepy jade eyes. 'Suna is so cold at night'  
She looked around for an open window but didn't find one. 'It must be really cold'  
Well duh, it's the middle of winter and you're in the desert, Inner Sakura said. 'But it's so hot during the day!' So do something about it.  
Sakura lay in the huge bed, a small thought in the back of her head wondering how she got there. She shivered again. Climbing out of the bed she slipped silently through the big doors.  
Was everything about this place huge? She looked around the hall. When she sensed no one she quickly ran across the hall and when silently into the room there. She turned the handle so the door wouldn't make a clicking sound. 'Oh yea. This room is much warmer'  
She walked on tiptoe to where she thought the bed would be, leaving the lights off so she wouldn't be detected. When her legs hit the soft, comforter covered side of the bed. 'YES' she inwardly congradulated herself. She tossed back the blankets and climbed in. She was asleep in moments.

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Gaara stiffened at the sound of his door opening. Of course he was wide awake but the sound of the door brought him out of some stupor. Quickly masking his chakra he brought a kunai out from under his pillow. "Oh yea. This room is much warmer," came Sakura's voice. He so badly wanted to think, 'Oh shit,' but resisted the urge. He kept his thoughts silent. "YES," came her voice again.  
He stayed completely still as he felt the comforter being thrown back and another weight settling into the bed. When he heard the deep breathing signaling her sleeping he relaxed, just a little. He looked over at the sleeping figure. All he saw was a lump due to the extream dark. Leaning in closer he made out her face. SHE'S BEAUTIFUL.  
'I know'  
THEN WHY DON'T YOU TAKE WHAT YOU WANT LIKE YOU ALWAYS USED TO. 'I don't know. I want this one time to be different'  
ARE YOU ADMITTING YOU FEEL SOMETHING FOR THIS GIRL?  
'I think I am'  
GOOD.  
'What's that supposed to mean'  
I'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET YOU TO SAY THAT. NOW IF SHE'LL DO THE SAME.  
'Wait, you've been playing both of us since the beginning'  
OF COURSE.  
'Why? What do you get from my happiness'  
CAN I DO ANYTHING WITHOUT YOU BEING SUSPICIOUS?  
'No'  
THAT'S GOOD TOO. WHAT I GAIN IS MORE POWER. WHEN YOU'RE HAPPY AND HAVE SOMETHING TO PROTECT YOU'RE THE STRONGEST YOU CAN EVER BE. WHEN YOU HAVE POWER, I HAVE POWER. I GAIN THROUGH YOU.  
'I knew you were after something'  
YOU DON'T SOUND LIKE YOU CARE.  
'I don't'  
They went silent then. Gaara slowly reached foreward and caressed her cheek. "Sleep well my cherry blossom"  
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A/N- (hides face in arms) Don't kill me cause it's short! I don't have a lot of time cause I'm on vacation but I am still trying to update all my stories and maybe get some more up.  
They might be short but for all who accually read my stories... I'm trying! Neo 


	4. Authoress Note

Authoress note-

Well I'm sorry to all of my faithful reviewers. My computer got some virus and I lost everything. All my soon to be update stories, all my new stories…T.T It makes me sad but I don't know how long it will be till I get another computer to start again. (The old one is Kaput… the virus completely destroyed everything… ) I might be able to try on my grandparents computer but after I got a virus on mine my grandpa is kinda picky about were I go online… I hope you'll all bear with me and let's all hope I get to type some more soon… It's driving me insane to not update my stories when I have all of these ideas in my head…T.T

Neo91


	5. remembering the reason

A/N- ok so it's taken me forever but I had so many reviews asking what would happen when she woke up that I got inspired! Now I'm going to get this chapter up and be happy because I haven't updated in forever! Ha! Haha!

Disclaimer- Don't own any of the characters but I do own this plot. It all came from the demented place called my mind.

**Hearing Demons**

Sakura mumbled, consciousness slowly returning to her sleeping form. She hugged whatever her head was on closer to herself. She was dreaming that the thing she was sleeping on was a self-heating body pillow and didn't want to let it go! She snuggled closer, pressing the entire length of her body to the warmth. But what was that silly beating? Pillows don't beat…

She cracked her eyes, squinting at the brightness coming out of the window. But what she had her arms wrapped around wasn't a self heating body pillow (which I'm pretty sure aren't real), but none other than Gaara himself. His black rimmed eyes were closed but by the tightness in his muscles she could tell he wasn't asleep. Slowly she unwrapped her arms from around his waist and sat up…

"What the hell am I…" she started. One of Gaara's eyes opened, staring at her. "Did you sleep well?" he asked. It was almost as if she hasn't just woken up with her arms around the man who is holding her captive. Sakura clenched her eyes shut for a few seconds then opened them again, trying to make herself wake up from this nightmare.

"Stop blinking like an owl and answer me," Gaara said, his eyes both closed again. She glared at his still figure.

"Why the hell are we in the same bed?" she demanded, realizing that this was no nightmare but the horrible truth of reality. Gaara just sighed. "Let me see," he recalled, "I was lying in my bed, when all of the sudden someone comes into my room. Not too soon after that someone crawls into bed and falls asleep. At about three am to my horror this someone wraps their arms around my waist and _snuggles_up to me. Oh and this someone talks in her sleep!" By the end he was yelling, upset with himself for not getting out of there before she woke up. That would have made things a lot easier to explain and he would have been able to tease the kunoichi for kicking him out of his own room. Now he would simply blame it all on her.

YOU ARE SO CHILDISH

'Yes.'

Sakura rolled her eyes at the two. They were at it again…

**You know it's funny to listen to these two. It provides me with a little entertainment**, her Inner Sakura chimed in.

'You back out of this… My life is complicated enough without you!' Sakura's eyes focused back on Gaara. He was looking at her with the oddest expression.

"Were you just arguing with yourself?" he asked. Shit, she had momentarily forgotten that he could hear her thoughts too. How to explain that she had an inner self without making herself seem like a total nut. She pursed her lips, really not wanting to explain anything to him.

To her horror, her inner self chimed, **I'm**** what she calls her inner self! She**** won'****t talk about me because she**** already think****s she****'****s**** a nutcase**** for having a voice in her**** head! **The entire thing just seemed stupid to even say making Sakura roll her eyes. Yea, he really was going to believe that she wasn't crazy now.

Gaara raised an eyebrow. Did the girl seriously have an inner self?

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THE GIRL IS A BIGGER NUT THAN YOU!

Since punching Shukaku was impossible, she flipped all the blankets on her onto Gaara and stormed out of the room, slamming the door so hard a long crack formed down the center. Was it too much to ask for her inner self to just shut the hell up for five minutes?! Now the man who was making her stay in Suna thought she was insane.

**You are t****he one who agreed with the demon**** to stay even with you having a mission to kill the guy. **Sakura stopped dead. Her mission! She had completely forgotten her mission! Now this was a dilemma she really didn't want to deal with right now. There had to be a way to get a message to Naruto; there had to be a way to let him know her delay. How could she kill him? How could she kill the man that she… NO! She was not going to say anything like that ever again. It would never happen to her ever again because every time it had she had come out hurt.

**How can you kill the man you are falling for?** Her inner self finished what she was '_not_' thinking.

'I don't know what you are talking about. I am not falling for anybody!' She was half way down the hall now, her anger so visible that several maids jumped out of the way. When she finally realized she was scaring the poor women she schooled her features. She got to the kitchen and almost tore the place apart when all the cooks denied her even fruit because Gaara wasn't there to give it t her.

Since there was no way she was going to ask that bastard for anything, she tried to follow her directions from the night before to get to the training grounds. It took 4 tries, turning around each time to find a new way, before she found the training field. Once there she sat down in the middle, legs crossed and eyes closed. She cleared her mind till she could concentrate on nothing but the field.

Signs of life flared through her senses. Birds to the south, a rabbit and its babies in their burrow to the north east, an ant hill not 4 yards to her left, and what she thought was a fox at the edge of the field, following the trail of something. Keeping track of the animal calmed her and took her mind off of the problems she was having. It wasn't like all of them were so bad that she should lose it like she was, but there had been a reason why Sakura had been sent on this mission and not a more experienced ANBU captain or something.

FLASHBACK

_"Sakura, I have an __important__ mission for you." The seriousness in Naruto's voice was __kind of__scaring__ her, but she sat down anyways. She sat, silent, waiting for Naruto to say something, or even move. Instead his eyes stayed glued to her face, almost as if he was trying to memorize everything about her. _

_"Naruto, what's wrong?" she said, finally breaking the silence. He almost jumped. "Did you forget why I came here?" He shook his head but stayed silent. They both sat silently again for a little bit longer._

_"Sakura, I need to tell you something, but I don't really know how to tell you," he finally said.__ Yet again Sakura was getting a little scared of her usually chipper friend's solemn mood._

_"So why don't you start with the mission you had talked about when I first came in," Sakura said. This had to get moving or she was going to die from the amounts of adrenalin pumping into her system. _

_Naruto sighed and passed her a paper. It was a mission briefing but all it said was, 'Go talk to the Hokage.' Well that was helpful. She tossed it back on his desk and crossed her legs. _

_"Spill it Naruto. I'm so nervous now that I'll probably try to kill the next person who comes through the door," she growled, trying not to give away her fear in any of her body language. __Fortunately__ she had had Anko teach her how to control her body and face, so when she was learning it was either control it or get a shurikan in the head. Fear was a great motivator. __It still took the blond ninja a while to start talking and when he did she wanted to scream._

_"You see I never knew about it or I could have helped you a little and Tsunade told me right before she left and I feel terrible for not seeing it sooner!" he almost yelled. None of it made sense to her but it seemed to matter a great deal to him that she understand he felt bad. She smiled encouragingly. At least it was getting somewhere._

_"Naruto, calm down just a bit and tell me what you feel so sorry about," she said calmly. Maybe if she was calm it would help him calm. Of course that was too much to ask for and this time he went off in sentences that didn't even make sense. Rolling her eyes in exasperation, she sent out a wave of chakra into the room. His erratically jumping chakra calmed almost instantly and he slouched in his seat. _

_"Thank you," he said. His voice was low, but sounded normal otherwise. __A few deep breaths later, "Sakura, I'm sending you on a mission to Su__na. You will kill Gaara no suna with a small ANBU team." Now it was time for Sakura to fall off her seat. _

_"What!?" she yelled, climbing back into her seat. What was going on? Why would Naruto have to send someone to kill one of his friends? "Why?" she asked_

_Naruto's face scrunched up. "It wasn't my choice. A few rogue ninja's from Suna have kept attacking Konoha and Gaara has failed to fix it. The council has outvoted me and deemed him too dangerous and not good enough to be Kazekage."_

_She wanted to yell, to scream, to rant and rave about this, but by the look on his face she could tell that it wasn't the best of ideas. He didn't like it any more than she did; the only difference was that Gaara had been closer to Naruto than to herself. __"Why me?" she asked quietly. Naruto sat back in his chair, eyes clenched shut._

_"This brings me to the other reason I called you in here…"he trailed off. __When his eyes opened they were a deep blue. Everything he was feeling or thinking was hidden in that blue. "Sakura… You have one of the tailed demons sealed inside you."_

END FLASHBACK

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A/N- ok so I know it's short but I got a chapter up!!!! It's amazing! I'm sorry if it seems to take me a bit longer to update than usual but I'm going through depression right now so finding inspiration is getting harder and harder. But after several pitchfork threats I have this one up and will soon have more. I'm WANTING criticism so even if it's flames I want to know what you think. Please, I see so many hits on this story but so few reviews. It's getting sad.


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